Read Online The Secret Of The Cathars (2011) by Michael Hillier - Free Book Online Page A

from him before and it was a new experience for him to try to understand the feelings of another person.
    “ Cesar - why should there be a problem?” He stroked her hair. “Here - have another swig of brandy.”
    She lifted her head and took another drink. She gulped it back and looked at him. “Oh, Alain! It seems to me as though everything is changing. I could feel the atmosphere over the phone. It was as though papa wasn’t there anymore.”
    “ It’s just Montlucon mouthing off while your father’s away. You’ve said yourself that the bloke is a heap of crap. He would never dare to act against your father.”
    “ He wouldn’t by himself.” She shook her head. “But now there’s all this money sloshing round, I wonder whether someone else has muscled in on the organisation now that papa is so much weaker than he used to be.”
    “ What do you mean?”
    “ Oh, there will have been dozens of the vultures circling when the news got out about this templar treasure. They will all want a chunk of the proceeds.” She added bitterly. “You didn’t realise what you were starting when you got in touch with Montlucon.”
    “ You mean there’s a fight going on between the various different factions in Marseilles?”
    “ That’s right. And papa’s right in the middle of it.” She shook her head again, her expression miserable. “The trouble is that he’s not the man he was. He lost a lot of kudos when they tried to assassinate him.”
    Hebert’s mouth fell open. “They tried what?”
    “ Didn’t you realise? Someone from one of the other groups tried to take the quick way to the top. Papa’s personal bodyguard was killed. He was a lovely great guy called Albert. Papa was nearly done for as well but he was rescued by Montlucon and a bunch of my father’s supporters. But papa was grievously wounded and was close to death for a long time. It gave Montlucon the opportunity to move himself up towards the top of the Force. I’ve been worried about that little bastard ever since. I’ve begged papa to give it all up and get away from Marseilles and find a quiet backwater for his retirement. I’ve offered to live with him and care for him.” Her eyes were bleak. “But then this great new opportunity turned up.”
    “ I suppose you blame me.”
    She gave him a brief hug. “No, I don’t. It’s what’s likely to happen to anybody when a lot of money is involved. But I am afraid that Montlucon has seen the opportunity to bring someone in over the top of my father in return for a bigger slice of the rewards. And that would be very dangerous for papa.”
    “ What do you want to do?” He was thinking rapidly. “I can go there and see them if you wish. I could drive to Marseilles in about four hours. I could be back tomorrow evening.”
    “ Not likely! You would be putting yourself at serious risk.”
    Alain considered it carefully for a while. “I don’t think I would be risking anything. I would take the same care as I did when I met Montlucon and your father for the first time. I would leave the appropriate information with my lawyers for public release if I didn’t contact them back by a certain time. And remember that nobody but me knows the exact location of the treasure. They can’t afford to terminate me or even to seriously upset me, because they would lose the chance to be led to the treasure.”
    “ You would really do that?” She looked at him with a new appreciation. “Do you know, I think you may be a very brave as well as a clever man.”
    “ I’ll tell you one more thing,” he said. “I don’t believe in making snap judgements. I think we should spend this evening relaxing with some food and a good red wine. Then I’ll decide what to do tomorrow.”
    She smiled for the first time that evening.
    “ I have a cassoulet simmering on the stove and I think I’ll open a bottle of Nuits St Georges. Will you join me?”
    “ That would be nice.”
    It was the start of an enjoyable